Thoughts
by GhostRin
Summary: Mai and Naru become linked via telepathic and soon find the path impossible to close. There's no privacy between the two now, and no lack of constant headaches. [Temporarily on Hold]
1. Chapter 1: Puppeteer

"Damn those children… They ruined my plans! 'Cleansing' my servants… I'll make them pay!" A man growled darkly, staring at the screen of his monitor; he had placed a hidden camera inside the SPR base. The man contemplated his choices before he smirked.

"Let's get into their heads a little, but who oh who will I chose?" the man examined his choices; he was diffidently going to choose the young ravened haired teenager. He was the 'leader' of the damned investigation. But he needed one other person…

'Mai, tea!' 'Narcissistic jerk! Get your own tea!' The man snapped his attention back to the screen. He could now see a young brunette glaring at the leader. The man smirked, she would do just fine….

The man shifted, and began to chant.

* * *

Naru glared at Mai, who returned it with her own.

"Mai" Naru growled a warning. Mai crossed her arms and stood her ground.

"You've already had twenty cups today!" Mai accused, throwing the absurd but probably perfectly true number at Naru. Naru snapped the book he had open, closed, scowling at Mai.

"That's impossible, Mai."

"Impossible for normal people!" Mai shouted, throwing her arms up in the air. Swinging one arm down, she pointed accusingly at Naru.

"But you're not normal! You can't live a half an hour without your damn precious tea!"

Naru glared at Mai, he could live a half an hour without tea, just not Mai's. But he would never admit that out loud.

"Mai-" Naru was cut off when he was struck with a sudden, unnaturally excruciating headache. Dropping his book, Naru grabbed his head as he hunched over in pain, eyes screwed shut as he tried not to scream.

"N-Naru?!" Mai rushed over to Naru's side, taking a hold of his arm "Naru, what's wrong-"

Mai yelped as she too grabbed her head. Legs buckling, Mai collapsed, and she curled into a tight ball. Naru soon followed.

"N-Naru… What's… happening..." Mai sobbed as she lost consciousness. Naru ground his palms against his head as it continued to throb. Quickly, Naru's vision faded as he began to lose consciousness as well. Swearing, Naru grabbed his radio clicking it on as he struggled to not scream.

"Lin- get back to the base, NOW-" voice clearly laced with agony, Naru managed to growled his message into the radio before he finally gave in to unconsciousness.

"**Naru? What's wrong? Naru?**" Lin's voice came over the radio, but received no response.

* * *

Lin stared at the radio in his hand in shock.

"What's wrong, Lin?" Ayako asked nervously. She had heard Naru's message as she was walking only a few feet in front of Lin. The rest of the team stopped as well.

Swearing, Lin turned on his heel and began sprinting back to base. His shiki grew uneasy as they approached base, hissing warnings to Lin. With the team on his heels, Lin rounded the last corner and spotted the base door.

Slowing, Lin suppressed a shiver as he sensed a powerful evil collecting in the base. Cautiously, Lin made his way to the door.

"Lin…" A hand caught his shoulder, turning, Lin meet the wide eyes of Yasuhara.

"Lin, I can feel something really bad in there…" Yasuhara almost whispered, trembling as he was struck with a force he had never felt before. Lin's eyes widened a fraction, even Yasuhara could sense it?!

Shrugging off the researcher's hand, Lin opened the base door roughly. He was instantly blasted with an evil force. Holding his ground, Lin franticly surveyed the base searching for his charge and Mai.

"Naru, Mai!" Lin called; he slowly walked in, the team followed as they clumped up in a tight group.

"Hahahahahaha!" An eerie laugh echoed throughout the room, stopping Lin in his tracks. Whipping around Lin spotted a robed figure standing over the limp figures of Naru and Mai.

"Naru!" Lin took a step, only to suddenly find himself bound to the floors, his shiki shrieked as they too were suddenly bound. The team had the same problem.

"Who are you." Lin growled in a low voice, glaring holes at the man. The man laughed.

"My name matters not, but if you really need a name to call me, I am 'Puppeteer'." Puppeteer laughed to himself as he rested a hand on Naru and Mai's heads. Quiet chants began to flow from Puppeteer's mouth, steadily growing louder.

Lin struggled against his restraints. Puppeteer stopped his chants to laugh.

"It is no use; my ropes can last a hundred years after my death if I wished it so!" Puppeteer laughed mockingly "I find this quite amusing; I take back what I thought before, if you hadn't 'cleansed' my servants, then I wouldn't have had this much fun! I must thank you!" Puppeteer thanked sincerely and bowed low to Lin as he continued to laugh.

"'Servants'? Are you talking about those poor souls that were trapped here?" Masako interjected, glaring at the robed man. She was handling the situation rather well despite the overpowering evil.

"Who else? This is quite fun I must say." Puppeteer straightened and smiled sweetly at Masako. Masako growled at him, only causing him to chuckle.

"What are you doing to Naru and Mai?" Takigawa shouted at Puppeteer. Puppeteer grinned gleefully at the reminder.

"Not much, just messing with their heads a little." Puppeteer finished his chant and removed his hands from his victims "Just killing them would be no fun." He explained as if it was obvious.

"What do you mean by 'just messing with their heads'?!" Ayako shouted. Puppeteer laughed.

"You'll find out after they wake up. I suggest returning home to where ever you came from and let the two rest while they can for now." Puppeteer advised; earning himself strange stares from the frozen SPR team.

"Come back when things have been… sorted between the two, only then do you stand even a sliver of a chance against me." Laughing, Puppeteer pulled something from the sleeve of his robe, and tossed it onto Naru's back.

"You'll need this." Chuckling, Puppeteer walked out of the room. When the door clicked closed, the team where released.

Whistling Lin sent his shiki after Puppeteer, only to have them report that he was gone. Growling under his breath, Lin ran over to Naru, checking for a pulse. Ayako was doing the same with Mai.

Sighing with relief, Lin and Ayako reassured everyone that the two unconscious teens were fine. Lin picked up the object off Naru's back. It was a bottle. Turning it so he could read the label, Lin's expression became one of confusion.

"What is it, Lin?" Ayako asked, staring at the bottle. Lin looked over at the miko.

"It's a bottle of Advil."

* * *

**Hehehe! I have been wanting another story to write so I didn't have to wait every Saturday to post for Fire of The Heart, because waiting is boring. So here you go, Thoughts! I randomly came up the idea while reading a ton of stories, I think it's a combo of vague ideas from The Switch and other random stuff, oh well XD Anyways, I think I'll post every Wednesday, maybe, not sure XP. Anyways REVIEW! (Sorry it's short, but I am unbelievably proud of it XD so deal with it's shortness ;P)  
**


	2. Chapter 2: Emotions

"Advil?" Ayako stared at the bottle in shock. Lin nodded to confirm.

"Why would Puppeteer say we would need headache medicine?" Masako asked quietly, her hand cupping her chin delicately as she thought.

"He did say he was 'messing with their heads'." Takigawa reminded Masako as he crotched beside Mai, preparing to pick her up.

"Even so, it's like he's giving us a hint." Masako dropped her hand "We should return to the office, I don't feel that man's presence any longer. It seems he has vacated the area."

Lin grunted as he picked up the unconscious Naru "In that case, we'll head back; and wait for Mai and Naru to wake up so we can find out exactly what the hell that man did to them." The others nodded. Yasuhara suddenly donned a mischievous grin that, quite frankly, even scared Lin.

"What happens if he switched their consciousness? Like, making them trade bodies?" Takigawa was the first to break the silence.

"If he did that, I'm going to kill him before a day passed!" He growled in a low voice, his protectiveness of Mai; who he considered a daughter, showing. The others stared at him before they began nervously laughing, catching on to what Takigawa was implying.

"Let's think about that later, right now we need to get back to the office." Lin ordered carrying Naru out of the room and to the car; the others soon filed after him.

* * *

**BACK AT THE OFFICE – A few hours later**

Naru groaned as he resurfaced to consciousness. Cracking open an eye, Naru grunted as he was blinded by florescent lighting; blinking sluggishly, Naru brought his arm up to block the light.

"How are you feeling, Naru?" A familiar voice asked. Moving his arm, Naru turned his head and found Ayako holding a damp cloth in her hand.

"Fine" Naru answered bluntly as he forced himself to sit up. Almost instantly, Naru swayed as he grabbed his head with one hand, the other supporting his unbalanced body.

"Careful!" Ayako scolded. Naru ignored her as he looked around.

He was back at the office, currently sitting on one of the lounge couches. Feeling slightly relaxed by the familiarity of the room, Naru looked across to the other couch and stiffened.

Lying on the couch like he had only moments ago was Mai, still unconscious. On her head rested a damp cloth and she was covered up to the chin with a fleecy blanket.

"What's wrong with Mai?" He questioned Ayako, forcing himself to tear his gaze away from his assistant as worry gnawed.

"She's no better then you were; Minor fever and a small respiratory problem, which will clear up after she wakes up." Ayako reported. She focused on Naru with a very serious expression.

"How is your head feeling?" Naru grimaced as he held his head a little harder.

"Fine; nasty migraine." Ayako's eyes narrowed before she continued

"Any blurriness?" Naru shook his head "Double vision?" Naru shook his head again. Ayako pulled a small white card from her purse "What does this say?" Ayako pointed to one of the written lines.

" Q" Naru read easily, Ayako nodded and put the card down.

"No concussion, that's good." Ayako sighed in relief, but she wasn't done cracking questions down on Naru just yet.

"Moving away from physical harm, do you sense anything off?" Naru blinked at Ayako, why was she so worried about his head?

"Is something wrong, Miss Matsuzaki?" Ayako ignored his question, waiting for an answer. Growling in irritation of having his question ignored, he glared at Ayako; she ignored that as well. Realizing he was wasting his time, Naru sighed and forced his body to relax.

Taking calming breaths, Naru focused on sensing the spiritual connections around him.

First, Naru checked his aura connections and found nothing out of the ordinary, moving on and repeating the check with his other abilities, Naru finally came to his telekinesis connections.

Ever since his brother's death, these links have been left empty and without a purpose. But when Gene had unexpectedly came sauntering back from the afterlife to continue his job as Mai's spiritual guide, Gene was able to reconnect with Naru. Naru sensed the connection with Gene intact and was about to move on when he sensed something different.

Focusing on the new presence in his mind, Naru was shocked to find himself connected to another person. But for some reason, he could not track the source. Resurfacing back to reality, Naru donned a rare confused expression.

"Anything wrong, Naru?" Ayako asked, watching Naru closely.

"I'm telepathically linked to someone, but I don't know who." Naru pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought. Ayako's eyes flickered to Mai; she had an idea who that someone was.

"Yo, big boss is awake!" Yasuhara called as he walked in, grinning from ear to ear. Soon after him, the rest of the team came into the room, greeting Naru and telling him how worried they were. Lin was the one to break the commotion.

"How are you feeling, Naru?" Lin asked; Naru gave him the same answer he gave Ayako.

Nodding, Lin motioned for the team to sit so they could talk about their current situation.

Naru moved to his chair, while John, Masako, Takigawa packed onto the couch, Yasuhara took a stool, Lin chose to stand, and Ayako remained sitting next to Mai. Once everyone was comfortable, Takigawa was the one to start.

"What happened back there, Naru?"

"After about twenty minutes after you all had left, Mai and I were having an argument when I was suddenly telepathically attack. Not a minute after, Mai also was affected. She fainted just before I called over the radio, after that, nothing." Naru recounted shortly, "What happened after you arrive?" He asked.

Lin was the one to explain. "Soon after you contacted us over the radio, we ran back to base. Inside we could easily sense something powerful, so much that even Yasuhara was able to sense it rather easily. Inside we found a robed man who claimed to be called 'Puppeteer' standing over you and Mai. We attempted to stop him as he began chanting, but we were tied by some power, even my shiki were unable to move. He said he was 'Messing with their heads a little' when we questioned his actions. He finished his chants and tossed a bottle of Advil onto your back saying we would need it and advised us to not return until a problem has been resolved."

Naru sunk deep into thought as he digested the information.

"Hey guys, now that Naru is awake, when will Mai wake up?" Takigawa whined absentmindedly, earning himself a hard _thwack! _In the back of the head from Ayako's purse. Takigawa yelp as he gripped his head.

"What the hell was that for, old hag?!" Ayako hit Takigawa again with her purse, twice.

"What the hell-?!"

"First time was for whining, second and third were for calling me an old hag! One hit for each word!" Ayako yelled. Wincing, Takigawa chose to keep his mouth shut.

A groan interrupted any further conversation. All attention immediately on Mai, everyone watched as she did a repeat of Naru's actions, to the point of scariness of how close they were.

'_She's alright!_' Naru heaved a relieved sigh as he assured himself.

"Is 'alright' even remotely close, Naru?" Mai suddenly said, glaring at Naru. Naru blinked in confusion.

'_What? What does she mean?_' Naru thought as he brooded over the reasons.

"You said 'She's alright!' Naru, how in anyway am I alright?!" Naru felt a flash of irritation that wasn't his. Naru was severely confused now, he didn't say anything.

"Naru…" Mai was glaring at Naru now; Naru again felt an emotion that wasn't his, this time it was anger and annoyance. Suddenly, a thought clicked in his mind.

Thinking, Naru proceeded to test his theory. '_Mai, as I'm 'saying' this, is my mouth actually moving?_' Naru watched Mai's expression. First confusion, then concentration, surprise, awe, and then flat out blank.

Naru felt all of these when they weren't his emotions.

Mystery solved; Naru figured out who he was telepathically linked too.

'_WWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT?_' Mai screamed in her head, causing Naru to wince as if she had screamed right into his ear.

"Mai, please don't scream; I already have a headache." Naru said this time, glaring at the stupefied girl.

"Bu-but I.. How…What?!" Mai stammered, her thoughts racing a million miles an hour, which Naru struggled to block as so not to get sucked in.

"Calm down, Mai!" Naru ordered as he found himself losing the fight. Mai's thoughts were immediately cut off, to the raven hair teen's relief.

Naru turned to face the team; and was met with confused expressions.

"Ah, Naru, what was that? It's like you and Mai just had a mix between a mental conversation and actual." Takigawa asked slowly as he tried to figure out just what happened.

"That's what happened."

"What?!" Ayako yelled in surprise as she stared at Mai and Naru; her expression quickly changed to understanding.

"That's what happened then. Puppeteer forcefully liked your thoughts together." Ayako murmured

Naru was suddenly bombarded with a cascade of emotions, Naru growled at Mai.

"Mai, please contain your emotions, I'm being sucked in." One emotion spiked, amazement.

'_Naru, you can feel my emotions?' _Mai asked attentively over their new link. Naru nodded lightly in response.

"I think this is a little more than just a thought link. Based on what Naru just said, he can also feel Mai's emotions quite clearly." Lin assessed as he observed Naru. Naru nodded in agreement.

'_What the heck! That's so not cool! Where's my privacy!_' Mai fretted her mind. Naru sighed as yet another fact dawned on him.

'_Mai, you're not the only one without any privacy now. We can't even block our thoughts from eachother without the other person hearing it.'_ Naru leaned back in his chair, massaging his temples; he wasn't going to get a break from headaches, was he. Mai groaned loudly as she placed her head on her knees.

"Can someone please explain this silent conversation you two are having?!" Ayako glared at Naru and Mai. Mai suddenly found the floor very interesting, silently begging Naru to explain. Naru glared at Mai in anger. '_May I ask, pray tell, why I must explain, Mai?'_ Mai didn't respond, instead Naru was hit with a wave of emotion from the girl.

"Mai and I can't block our personal thoughts from eachother." Naru deadpanned.

_Stare….._

"WHAT?!" Takigawa almost screamed "That's an invasion of privacy to Mai!" Naru glared ice at Takigawa, Mai shivered as she was pricked by Naru's irritation; even though it wasn't towards her.

"I said BOTH of us; therefore I have the same problem of privacy as Mai." Naru reminded Takigawa angrily.

"Well, why don't you two just separate?" John cut in. Everyone, even Naru turned to look at John as they realized they hadn't quite thought of that yet.

"Please!" Mai begged; Naru, even though he knew Mai would hear him, mentally agreed. Mai smiled over at Naru warmly as she realized he agreed. Naru felt something rise from his chest; immediately he squashed it, he did NOT want Mai to know what he just felt. He wasn't even going to THINK about it.

"Well Naru? I guess it's your call, Mai doesn't know how to sever a telepathic connection." The monk reminded Naru the fact that Mai never was telepathically connected to anyone unlike him.

Relaxing himself, Naru focused on his connection with Mai. And began to sever it carefully; this was a link that was forcefully made, who knows how delicate it is, it could be dangerous for both Mai and Naru if anything was done too fast.

Mai suddenly yelped loudly, grabbing her head as she curled into a ball. Naru stopped immediately as he felt a wave of agony from Mai. When Naru stopped, Mai uncurled slowly, still holding her head. Through the still connected link, Naru felt the agony subside immediately and was replaced with relief and confusion.

"Mai? What's wrong?" Ayako immediately went to Mai, shifting automatically to doctor mode.

"I felt Naru beginning to sever the link, but the minute he so much as tugged at it, I suddenly felt a headache…" Mai explained as she released her head slowly, and looked at Naru in confusion.

"Would you really call that a headache?" Naru asked her, pointedly remembering the wave of agony from Mai. Mai considered it for a moment, before sighing.

"No, not really. Migraine doesn't even really cover it either." Mai admitted

Naru gave her a 'You think?' look, irritation flashing. Mai winced and looked down at her hands, shame washing over her. Naru's eyes narrowed a fraction.

'_Why are you ashamed?'_ Naru asked in monotone

'_I DON'T KNOW OK!'_ Mai suddenly shouted at him, holding back tears as she brought her knees up to her chin.

"What did you say, Naru?!" Naru didn't respond. His steel mask saved him from showing his confusion in from of the team. But Mai felt it loud and clear. Mai relaxed.

'_I'm sorry; I'm just… confused right now. I shouldn't have shouted at you.. .'_ Mai apologized in a slightly pathetic voice. Naru accepted it with a mental nod.

'_I have got to remember that Naru is going through this too! It's not fair for me to take it out on him!'_ Mai coached herself, mentally scolding herself. Naru, let her continue her rant, and focused on trying to tune her out.

"I think you two are stuck in your current situation." Lin interrupted said two's trains of thought.

Mai was confused, and Naru nodded slowly in agreement. Mai shifted her stare to Naru, she didn't say anything, but Naru could tell she was essentially saying 'explain please!'

"Mai, when I tried to disconnect us, you experienced a telepathic attack; so to say. But when I stopped trying to sever the link, the attack stopped immediately." Naru explained. Mai tilted her head cutely. Wait what?

Squashing the thought that Mai was cute immediately to save himself from embarrassment, Naru watched as Mai gave him a confused look. Naru almost heaved in relief when he realized that she didn't hear his thought when she was too focused on figuring out what he had meant with his statement.

'_Naru?'_ Naru immediately gave her a steely 'it's none of your business' look. Mai dropped it as she felt Naru's unspoken threat.

"So what caused it?" Mai asked after she refocused on the current problem.

"I think I have an idea…" all attention turned to Masako, who had sat quietly until now.

"What is it, Masako?" Mai asked curiously

"Remember Puppeteer chanting? He had a hand on both Mai and Naru's head, forming a temporary physical link before it turned spiritual. Maybe what he was chanting not only forcefully linked Mai and Naru, but also made it so they were unable to separate? I think what happens is that while one person is trying to sever the connection; the other would be telepathically attacked until the link is left alone. Therefore forcing it so that the link is left intact." Masako explained as she hid her mouth with her sleeve. Lin nodded in agreement.

"It makes sense." Lin started to rapidly type on his laptop, taking notes of the new information.

'_When and where did he get that?' _Naru and Mai thought in union as they stared at Lin. Mai giggled while Naru just mentally stared at her.

'_**Hello you two!'**_ a third voice suddenly entered Mai and Naru's mind. Both starting in shock, they focused on the voice.

'_Gene?' _Mai thought in shock _'I thought I didn't have a link to you!'_

'_**You don't, Naru does though; you're able to hear me because your now connected to him! So really you're just over hearing me'**_ Gene said gleefully

'_I thought I told you to move on'_ Naru thought to Gene, mentally glaring at him. Mai mentally slapped Naru.

'_Naru! He's your brother for kami's sake!'_ Mai scolded him before she abruptly stopped '_CRAP! I'm sorry Naru!'_ Mai receded to a corner in her mind as she was flooded with shame and fear; she also shrank back against the couch.

'_**It's ok Mai, the idiot deserved it. Ouch, that slap looks like it hurts, Naru; you've got a red handprint forming on your cheek.'**_ Mai shrunk away from Naru when she felt anger spike from him.

'_I'msorry I'msorry I'msorry I'msorry I'msorryI'MSORRY!' _Mai shrieked in panic. Naru pinched the bridge of his nose.

'_I give up.'_ Naru thought in frustration as he gently massaged his now tender cheek '_That was surprisingly strong…'_ Naru admitted hesitantly. Mai calmed slightly as she nervously laughed.

'_Sorry….'_

"What's wrong with your cheek, Naru?! You've got a handprint, like you got slapped just now!" Ayako suddenly yelled in shock, staring at the bright mark now apparent on Naru's pale face. Mai sunk in her seat, laughing nervously.

"Ahahaha…. I may have mentally slapped Naru…" Mai admitted nervously. The whole team except Naru, who was tending to said handprint, stared at Mai in shock; Lin's typing ceased as well.

"You WHAT? You slapped _NARU_?" They chorused in shock. Mai continued to laugh nervously. Mai glanced down at the hand she had mentally used to slap Naru; it was tingling and red; like she actually physically slapped him, not spiritually.

'_Oops….' _

Gene laughed _**'Only you Mai, only you! That was beautiful!'**_ Gene said joyfully. The room's temperature dropped 15o.

"Naru…" Lin growled a warning at Naru. Mai stifled another fit of giggles; another 5o gone.

'_**Well, I guess I should leave you two to your lover's spat!'**_ Gene retreated in a flash, leaving a gaping Mai who was fifty shades of red, and a growling Naru behind. Another 30o degrees dropped.

"NARU! Control yourself, icicles are forming on the ceiling already!" Lin ordered Naru, grabbing Naru's shoulder and gripping it painfully tight. Snapping back to his senses, Naru forced himself to calm.

The room's temperature rose, slowly but steadily.

Teeth clattering, Mai rubbed her arms fiercely as she tried to warm them, '_Why did Gene have to say that?! Naru almost froze us to death!'_ Naru ignored the comment; he was still seething from Gene's 'goodbye'. Mai hesitantly flashed Naru a tiny smile; Naru only huffed in annoyance.

'_What the hell was that!'_ Naru mentally ranted, he forced a wall up so Mai couldn't sense his feelings, which proved useless; as Mai suddenly gaped at Naru when he came up against one particular emotion. Jealousy of his brother. '_Crap!'_

'_Naru, you're jealous..?'_ Naru wanted desperately to panic, but, like before, he crushed the emotion down. He glared at Mai.

'_What reason do I have to be jealous about that moron?'_ Naru asked hotly. Mai shrugged as she examined Naru.

'_Don't know, but I guess I'll find out eventually, whether you like it or not, considering our current situation anyway.' _Mai reminded Naru, much to his annoyance.

'_Dammit! I am going to STRANGLE Puppeteer!_' Naru vowed. Mai motioned for Naru to calm down.

'_Didn't know you were so human under that stupid mask of yours.' _Mai observed, earning herself a withering death glare from Naru.

'_Just because I don't express emotions doesn't mean I don't have them. I swear if you tell ANYONE about this, I will put you on permanent tea making duty for the rest of your life!'_ Naru threatened '_and no cases! I'll chain you to base to keep you from moving'_ Naru added in a low voice. Mai gasped, and fiercely nodded her head. That would be a nightmare, and Naru knew it.

Satisfied that Mai wasn't going to say anything. Naru focused on the team again. Who, not surprisingly, where confused at the actions Mai and Naru had sent eachother during their silent conversation.

"Um, are we allowed to know what you two were saying?" Takigawa asked. Frantic shaking of the head from Mai and a death glare from Naru "Never mind"

"Well, anyways. I say we call it a day. We can figure out how to break the link tomorrow." Ayako declared, standing up. Staring down at the team as if daring them to disagree. No one argued and stood up, making their way to the coat rack; taking their respective coats.

Mai struggled with her coat, finding it hard to shove her arm through the sleeve. Cursing under her breath, Mai gave up and just decided to carry it. Naru lifted an eyebrow at Mai as he sensed her frustration.

"I need to get a new coat, I finally outgrew this one." Mai explained, answering Naru's unspoken question. Mai stared out the open door of the office, shivering slightly as she felt a blast of cold wind.

Naru sigh, and went back to the coat rack, grabbing a light jacket that was left hanging. Tossing the jacket, Naru turned to leave. Mai stared at the coat.

'_It's cold out. Your useless enough without catching a cold.'_ Naru explained to Mai, Mai glared at Naru as she put it on without a second thought, rejoicing as she was incased in warmth. Faintly, Mai could smell the scent of tea and cologne. Mai felt a blush creep up her neck as she realized that Naru just lent her his jacket. Because Naru was already in the car, Mai smiled and thanked Naru through their connection.

'_Thanks Naru.'_ Mai said warmly as she watched Naru drive away.

'_Don't be late tomorrow, Mai'_ Mai stopped smiling as anger mounted.

'_Stupid narcissistic jerk!_' Mai stomped down the stairs and began making her way to her apartment.

As the distance grew between Mai and Naru, they both swore they felt a faint headache, slowly growing stronger as time passed. They shrugged it off; They desperately needed sleep, it's been a long day.

* * *

**Second chapter up, yay! We learn a lot about the connection between Mai and Naru. Naru almost got caught when he thought Mai was cute, hehehe… But he was caught when he got jealous :P this is going to get very interesting. Wonder what will happen next chapter… Well I know because I'm the author, but still XD Review for more!**


	3. Chapter 3: Tea

Mai groaned; she had the worst headache ever.

Well, not as bad as the telepathic attack she had experienced when Naru tried to separate the forced link between them; thankfully.

Growling in frustration, Mai forced herself to sit up, feeling her hands sink into the mattress of her bed slightly. She was fine when she was at the office, and one check on the link told Mai that Naru wasn't doing anything to it, so why was she feeling like her skull was about to crack?!

Placing her bare feet, Mai hissed under her breath as she felt the unforgiving cold of her hardwood floor. Seemed like the world was out to get her.

Pushing herself away from her cozy, but proven useless, bed; Mai walked to her small bathroom, whipping open the medicine cabinet where Mai had stashed her basic medical aids. She was met with the medicine for a stomach bug, nausea, dizziness, and all kinds of other bottles, but nothing for a headache that grew worse as the minutes passed by. Mai hung her head in defeat, great.

Stalking back to her bed, Mai quickly realized that sleep was impossible at this point; it was the headache that woke her up in the first place after all. Scoffing to herself, Mai looked over to her small alarm clock.

3:48 am

It was early, but Mai had nothing better to do; Mai suddenly smirked, wonder what Naru's expression would be? Over the connection, Mai felt something spark from Naru; a tall tale emotion that spoke curiosity. Mai hummed to herself, he must be awake as well. Mai smiled, maybe it was the distance, but Mai couldn't quite pick up emotions from Naru as well as before, plus she couldn't hear his thoughts; some form of privacy at least, but Mai had a feeling that her current migraine was the price of that privacy, and it was getting more painful by the second.

Standing away from her bed again, Mai busied herself as she prepared to go to work early for once.

* * *

Naru rolled to his side, through a pounding headache that threatened to break Naru's skull; he had been picking up mischief from Mai, although it wasn't as clear as before. Interesting.

Sleep had evaded Naru the whole night, which didn't bother his energy levels much, as he barely slept to begin with; but he was still human, and that meant that even he couldn't function without sleep every once in a while. But the one time he actually wanted to rest; he couldn't because he was just in too much pain.

Naru sighed, thirty minutes before, he had taken powerful headache medicine in hopes to completely deaden the pain; but it never worked, it should have kicked in long ago. That's just great.

Couldn't tell if the world loved him or hated him.

Another hour of no sleep and Naru finally glanced up at the clock.

5:00 am

About time he started heading down to the office. Naru, who had been sitting on the couch as night past; stood and began to prepare himself for the day.

Was it his imagination, or has his headache lessened just a little?

After finishing his early morning rounds, Naru skipped breakfast, as he wasn't feeling hungry, and was soon walking to his car. Unlocking the vehicle, Naru slid into the seat and turned on the car, pausing to listen to its soft purr as the engine warmed. After a few minutes, Naru backed out and drove down to the office.

* * *

Mai hummed to herself as she finished filing the last of the papers. Mai inwardly smirked, she had filed every single thing given to her, even managing to find the large stack of papers meant to be filed that day, and filed that too; even a little of what Mai presumed to be the next days.

Naru must have at least a weeks' worth of papers that could be filed in advanced instead stashed away.

Looking around and realizing she had nothing else to do, Mai glanced over at the clock mounted on the wall, and cheered at her new record time. Grinning from ear to ear, Mai smiled triumphantly.

Naru wouldn't be able to tease her now; well, unless he gave her the rest of tomorrow's paperwork she had _intentionally_ left, which wouldn't take an hour to file away.

Mai looked around, well; she didn't have anything to do now for the day. Mai inwardly groaned, oops; this was going to be a long and boring day without the filing. Mai giggled, maybe she could ask Naru for some work; Mai's smile swelled at the expression Mai imagined Naru would give her, not to mention the emotions Mai would now be able to sense.

Maybe it wasn't all that bad; Mai would be able to tease Naru more at least, although that was a double edged sword.

Having nothing else to do, Mai walked into the kitchen; she felt like getting as many emotions out of Naru as she could today. Mai smirked again, maybe she should make him her secret tea…

* * *

Naru was torn between being worried, or relieved.

As he was driving closer, the pounding headache lessened considerably; so that was good. What worried him was that he sensed Mai's presence the closer he got, and she was bursting with either mischief, or happiness; Naru couldn't tell, maybe it was a mix of both.

Either way, Mai being mischievous before five in the morning wasn't a good sign; not to Naru anyways.

Pulling up and parking, Naru walked up the stairs to the office, finding the door already unlocked. Naru didn't need to worry about robbers though; he could sense Mai was already inside.

Naru was worried for the fact that she had beaten him to the office; and he was always the first there, even before Lin, and Mai was always the last. But for some reason, Mai was the first one here.

Naru settled on worried; diffidently.

Opening the door silently Naru shrugged off his coat and hung it on the rack, noting the jacket he had lent to Mai hanging on the hook Mai's coat usually hung. Silently walking into the office, Naru instantly registered a delicious scent of tea drifting from the kitchen. Walking over to the kitchen, Naru was met with the sight of a bustling Mai as she busied herself making what looked to be a complex cup of tea. Naru for a fact knew that Mai never did anything _this _complex when it came to her tea making; Mai was a natural tea maker that could probably throw something together and it'd still taste good, so when Mai was being this careful…

"Hi, Naru!" Mai greeted, not turning from her work. Naru started, before quickly reminding himself that Mai could sense him now; even if he was as quiet as he could possibly be which would probably rival the silence of death itself.

"Mai, why are you here so early?" Naru cut to the chase, not bothering himself for small chit-chat; Naru expected a spike of annoyance from Mai, but instead, she seemed… proud and… smug. Naru allowed himself to wonder why, Mai picked up on his curiosity and she finally turned around to meet his eyes.

She was smiling victoriously

"What did you do, Mai?" Naru asked, growing wary now. Mai smirked as she returned to fixing the tea.

"Oh, I just finished all of today's paperwork in record time." Mai said, as if it was something trivial; which, for Mai, wasn't.

Naru couldn't help but stare at her. Did Mai get possessed by a ghost or something to make her do all the paperwork willingly after she came to work before her boss? Mai smirked as she felt Naru's mind beginning to blank. Naru sensed she was holding something back about the paperwork, but was keeping it out of her mind to hide it, much to Naru's frustration; and to Mai's amusement. Time to drop bomb number two!

"If you need me to do anything else today, I'll do it." Mai offered innocently. Waiting patiently for Naru's reaction.

Naru's face was still controlled, but that was a useless shield towards Mai now, and he knew she could sense his decision that she was possessed. Mai pouted when Naru settled on that answer.

"Yes in fact, I do have more paper-" Mai cut off Naru as he began

"Meant to be filed tomorrow? I filed almost all of it already; I found your little stash." Mai smirked smugly again. Much to his surprise, Mai wasn't lying; Naru leaned against the wall, contemplating his options, a fact suddenly dawned on him literally out of the blue.

His headache was gone; completely gone, nonexistent.

Just as Naru realized it, Mai too realized it as well. Mai's hands stilled from her near complete tea project. Mai turned to stare at Naru.

"You had a headache too?" Naru nodded lightly, recalling the head-splitting pain from before. Mai looked at him in shock.

"You as well, I presume?" Naru asked

"Yeah, I woke up around 3:00 with a headache, I couldn't fall back asleep; that's why I'm here early, I had nothing else to do." Mai's cheeks tinged red as she confessed the reason for her ungodly earliness, Mai sighed in frustration "And I didn't have any medicine…" Mai muttered. Naru chuckled, causing Mai to pout.

"Your very _human_ today, Naru" Mai accused, Naru scowled instantly.

"What's the point of hiding my emotions when you can sense them?" Naru flashed at her. Mai blinked, she hadn't thought of that. Naru scoffed, he turned his attention to the tea that appeared to be finished.

Mai snapped her attention back to her 'project' and rushed to make the finishing touches, relieved to find the liquid still steaming. After a while, Mai smiled as she prepared a cup, and offered it to Naru before making a cup for herself.

Naru examined the tea, then Mai. Mai was grinning from ear to ear in excitement and anticipation. Naru scowled at her, and found it did nothing to dampen her mood. Naru absentmindedly took a sip of the tea out of habit.

Mai watched as Naru froze, cup still to his lip, eyes wide with shock. Mai forced herself not to squeal and jump around. Mission successful!

Naru's mind was at a dead stop, completely blank. He knew he was going to be having something different form his usual tea, but THIS was something…. Naru couldn't find the correct word as he swallowed a healthy sip; finally slipping out of his frozen daze. Naru relished the feeling of bliss as the warmth of the tea seeped into his body, and seemed to instantly relax him to his very core; he stared at Mai in shock. Mai smiled warmly at Naru, although she was containing her bursting excitement.

"Wha-"

"A secret recipe I came up with a few years ago. I never made it before because of how long it takes to make, but I made sure to make enough for today; a lot of it, considering your tea-addict habits and extra." Mai teased; thoroughly pleased with the resulted emotions her tea had reaped. Mai grinned as she held up a finger.

Naru quirked an eyebrow.

"One" Mai said confidently

"One what?" Naru asked, taking another sip of the tea.

"You owe me one favor." Mai said triumphantly. '_Should've expected that'_ Naru thought to himself, he nodded. Mai deserved the favor, considering the time she spent into making tea for Naru. Speaking of the tea, it seemed to make Naru considerably more relaxed; like a lot more than usual, he would've snapped at Mai usually, but he just agreed that he owed her.

'_Damn tea is too good…_' Naru thought as he took another sip '_way to good…_' Mai giggled as she heard Naru's half-hearted frustrated thoughts.

* * *

Lin was shocked, to say the least. He had entered the office expecting the usual; Naru locked into his office, Mai's desk covered with piles of paper. He was met with the sight of neither. Mai's desk was completely free of papers, and Naru was sitting on one of the couch lounges holding a cup of tea while reviewing a file. And Mai was sitting across from him doing homework. Lin glanced down at his watch.

5:45 am

Granted Lin was a little later than usual, Mai was here early; a lot earlier. Lin double checked Mai's desk, still no papers. '_Did she file it all already?_' Lin thought in shock. Lin hung his coat and grabbed his laptop, walking to his office as he silently observed the teenagers. Every once in a while, Mai would scowl at Naru who smirked or returned the scowl at the same time; Mai continued working on her assignment, '_English_' Lin deducted as he passed by. Naru noticed Lin, in which Mai also noticed; sensing that Naru was suddenly focused on something else.

"Oh hi, Lin!" Mai greeted happily, smiling warmly up at the tall man. Lin nodded to Mai, watching as she returned her attention back to her homework, every once in a while looking back up at Naru. Naru nodded lightly at Lin, before he returned his attention to the file in his hand, taking a sip of tea from the cup in his hand. Lin walked into his office, leaving his door open to observe the pair.

Lin opened his laptop, and began rapidly typing.

Surprising how no one questioned his constant time on the computer 'taking notes' when nothing was to be noted or documented. Lin was currently messaging Madoka.

_Mai arrived before me; and Naru is out of the cave and in the lounge with Mai._

_**Mai arrived before you?! What happened?**_

Madoka instantly replied; Lin could easily image her voice, shrieking in shock. Lin smiled.

_Don't know._

_**That's no fun! :(**_

_Mai's desk didn't have any papers to file either, and Naru wasn't teasing her._

_**Ohhh! Maybe something good happened!**_

_I'll leave the imagining to you, gtg._

Lin signed off as his short conversation with Madoka ended, and Lin turned slightly to observe the calm and _quiet_ couple; Lin could guess they were talking over their new connection, and that probably wasn't _nearly_ as quiet; judging from the frequent glares, scowls and occasional smirks.

* * *

Mai stared at the paper in her hands. Although she understood most of the simple words of English on the paper, she couldn't make out a few of them. Mai looked up at Naru, who ignored her.

'_Naruuuu~? What does this mean?_' Instead of showing Naru the paper, Mai projected the image of the word to Naru; a new technique she had learned quite literally by accident. Naru scoffed at her.

'_You should know that easily, if you actually studied Mai._' Mai pouted at the insult, glaring at Naru.

'_I'll know it when you tell me what it says!'_ Mai flashed at him hotly, Naru looked up from his folder to Mai.

'_What do you think it means?_' Naru asked her. Mai did a double take, suddenly remembering that he was a renowned professor in England, who probably did more than one lecture in the past. Mai stared down at the word, raking her mind for her first guess.

'_Library…?'_ Mai thought hesitantly, Naru nodded once. Mai bounced happily as she realized she guessed right.

'_What does the whole sentence say?'_ Naru asked her, Mai grinned; Naru was helping her with her homework, for once. Maybe that tea was magic. Projecting the sentence to Naru, Mai proceeded to translate it, this time speaking out loud.

"The ribrary that has lion statues in front of it is three meters down the road of the small grocery store." Mai said hesitantly, stumbling over the long sentence. Naru closed his folder and drained the last of his tea.

'_Library, you said ribrary, practice the L'_ Naru instructed, watching as Mai complied, stumbling with the L multiple times before she finally got it right. Naru nodded in approval. Mai smiled widely as she scribbled the answer to the question on her sheet. Naru looked at her handwriting, grimacing at its messiness, Mai pouted as she noticed his displeasure.

'_You have a lot to learn_' Naru said as he leaned back against the couch, sighing as he relaxed. Mai giggled at the sight.

'_I never knew my tea could do such wonders to someone like you!_' Mai stifled a laugh as Naru glared at her '_You would've never helped me with my homework before!_' Naru sighed, can't ignore that fact. The tea diffidently had an astounding effect on him, to say the least; made Naru totally out of character, much to his annoyance.

'_It's like a sedation; what the hell did you put in it?'_ Mai giggled at the comment, before placing a finger over her lips.

'_That's a secret._' Mai thought teasingly, causing Naru to huff at her.

Naru's mind turn to the events that had happened through the night and morning before Naru and Mai had returned to the office.

What caused those headaches?

* * *

After Mai had finished her homework, Naru and Mai had discussed the possibilities behind the headaches, and although they had ideas, they all proved wrong. Mai convinced Naru to wait for the rest of the team to arrive so they could add their own ideas. Naru scoffed, but agreed; Naru also skipped the tea, not wanting to be too out of character in front of his colleagues, Mai was fine; he didn't really have a choice in the matter so why try; much to his annoyance.

Naru stared at the wall as he waited for the rest of the team to arrive; it wounded his pride a little, not being able to appear indifferent in front of Mai anymore, she could sense every little emotion that he felt and didn't kill instantly. He didn't like it, and now Mai was able to tease him as much as he teased her, now knowing the feelings Naru truly felt. He hated it.

But it didn't bother him that much either; as long as one of _those_ emotions aren't sensed by Mai he can handle it, and not die of emotional overload. Naru growled at himself '_damn that tea!'_ Naru cursed, not able to bring himself to hate it or love it, considering its effects. Mai tried to smother a smirk, earning herself a hard glare from Naru.

Before Naru could make a sharp remark at Mai, the front door suddenly swung open, revealing a bickering pair of Ayako and Takigawa with John following behind at a safe distance. The fighting stopped when Ayako noticed Mai sitting comfortably on the couch, and not cursing Naru as she filed a mountain of papers; Takigawa noticed as well, and donned a confused expression.

"Hi Mai!" Takigawa grabbed Mai and pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"C…can't…Breath…." Mai gasped out, groaning as the air was squashed out of her lungs, Takigawa released her to grab her shoulders and look at her with mock seriousness; ducking in time as Ayako's purse flew by, missing the monk by an inch.

"Why are you here early Mai? Don't you usually come around seven?" The monk asked in curiosity, acting as if he didn't almost have his head knocked off by a purse. Mai smiled shyly.

"Ahhh… yeah about that… I arrived early... very early…" Mai tried to explain; how do you say that she arrived before Naru, who practically lived in the office?

"Very?" Ayako joined the interrogation.

"Ahhhh…-"

"She was here before I arrived" Naru suddenly cut in, saving Mai from her awkward confusion. All attention turned to Naru; '_wait, Lin is here too, when did he come out of his office?!_' Mai thought, realizing Lin had also joined them in the lounge.

Takigawa laughed as if it was a joke "That's impossible, what time do you usually get here?"

"5:00 to 5:15." Naru answered, sounding slightly bored. No one but Mai and Lin noticed his relaxed demeanor; Mai felt pride swell again, proud the fact that her tea did that to the usually impatient man.

Takigawa laughed again as he turned his attention back to Mai "See Mai? It's im-"

"I arrived at around 3:50, and I did all my paperwork and extra before Naru arrived." Mai stated proudly, effectively cutting off Takigawa. Naru almost had to stifle a chuckle at the blank, shocked expressions of Ayako and Takigawa, almost.

"You… why would you arrive at such an ungodly hour?!" Ayako screeched, shoving Takigawa out of the way as she grabbed Mai's shoulders, shaking the poor girl as if she had lost it. Mai worked her way away from the screaming women, and inched her way to Naru for protection.

"I couldn't sleep, plus I had nothing better to do…" Mai explained as she did a nervous laugh.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Ayako suddenly switched to doctor mode, all screeching gone. Mai stared at her for a moment before processing the question.

"Oh ah, I had a headache….. but ever since Naru arrived… It's gone." Mai paused long before she added the part were Naru arrived the headache disappeared "I don't know why, but I have a feeling it has something to do with our 'link'." Mai added quickly

John nodded his head slowly; he looked over at the silent Naru.

"Naru, if I may ask, did you have any headaches before you arrived to the office?" Naru nodded his head lightly. John sunk deep into thought, every once in a while mumbling something.

Ayako tilted her head; Lin magically pulled out his laptop, and began to rapidly type on it; and Takigawa seemed to realize something and sunk into despair.

Naru and Mai both shared the same thought as they observed Takigawa

'_He's thought of something_'

* * *

**Truth be told, I didn't mean to make Naru so OOC, so I blamed it on the tea, and officially dubbed it the cursed OOC Tea XD Makes one relax considerably and change a point of a person's personality depending on the person temporarily, in this case, Naru grows more patient and not as snappy XD. Ah I'm so lazy :P Anyways, Review!**


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